The Love of Our Heavenly Father and Savior

What do we have hope in if not a Supreme Being who has overcome all evil and who loves us unconditionally; sees our needs, answers our prayers, and heals us with His Spirit? What would be left to have hope in? When all seems dark around us, we must believe that there is someone out there who knows all and who will bring mercy to those who suffer, and justice to those who would willingly inflict suffering. If there is no Heavenly Father, then those who do wickedly would never have to suffer as they make those around them to do so. And those who are righteous would have no hope of blessings or a reward for their patience, kindness, and forgiveness. There would be no purpose in any of what we do. We must believe there is purpose and that there is a God over all people and things! If not, how truly hopeless our situation would be! And if we choose to believe that there is a God, we must take the time to find out His character through study of the scriptures, prayer, and personal experiences; or perhaps, the experiences of others if we find our desire waning. We must be believing and unshaken in our hope that there is a God who loves us, even if all around us should fail. I love these words from Paul:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?....Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." --Romans 8: 35, 37-39

A beautiful hymn also comes to mind:

"Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.
Be still, my soul: The hour is hast'ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone.
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed, we shall meet at last.

Choose to Hope

Why I still choose to hope.....

I have seen many people, despite trials and suffering, who still hope and who still trust that God cares for them and loves them. They continue strong and unwavering in their faith despite....

watching a child battle cancer and lose.
watching a child battle cancer and win.
battling cancer themselves.
being abandoned by a husband.
the deaths of 3 family members in one month
having to bury a baby who was 20 weeks premature.
having been addicted to drugs and alcohol.
having to take care of a husband for years while he suffered and eventually died.
being in a wheel chair and doctors cannot diagnose the condition.
losing a job and not finding one again for 6 months.
having to bring children to church every Sunday alone.
struggling with diabetes.
being away from church for 20 years.
the divorce of parents after 25 years.
struggling with an eating disorder.
having a severely handicapped child who will never talk or walk.
having been through a divorce which was no fault of their own.
being abused by a spouse.
being single and pregnant.
having a spouse with a severe mental illness.
having children who choose unhappy paths.
the early death of a spouse.

So our circumstances do not have to control our faith. We can have the faith and hope to control our attitudes in spite of our circumstances. And I choose to look at those who are faithful regardless of what they must go through in this life. Oddly, or rather, not, they are some of the happiest people I know.

Political Two Cents

I don't pretend to be well-educated in the area of politics, but as of late, I have read a great deal about this nation's history and the purpose of it's establishment and government. I firmly believe our founding fathers were inspired by our Heavenly Father to create such an unprecedented way of governing. He has blessed this nation with unique freedoms and circumstances as no other nation has been. But where is our country headed? Can we not see the connection between the moral decay of our country and the increased "intolerance" for the belief in a right and a wrong? If nothing is "wrong", and everything is right because someone desires it, we only find ourselves with more "rights" and no responsibilities, and no virtue. Lately I have seen that our country's own government is only facilitating this idea of "entitlement" without responsibility and without virtue!

“Nowadays, the purpose of government is not so much to secure our natural rights as to provide us new rights, to bestow on us social and economic and other kinds of entitlements – the list goes on and on, and it's still being added to.” --Charles Kesler
"Big Government is intrusive and not liberating…Big Government constrains you for the sake of equality so that your freedom is no greater than anyone else's. It also constrains you for your own comfort and security. Its constant tendency to control and equalize the conditions of life leads it to attempt to diminish the risks of life by which inequalities of fortune, and even of merit, occur. In diminishing your risks Big Government diminishes your virtue, because it (THE GOVERNMENT) assumes responsibility for making things come out well for you despite YOUR errors or, what is more and more likely, your INACTION." --Harvey Mansfield

Is more government the answer to the constant pleas for more rights and seemingly less tolerance for faith and moral values?

Courage and Truth

I came across this on YouTube, and thought it was well worth sharing. How incredible that a person as young as this could be so gifted a speaker and could dictate so boldly on such a controversial topic. What an example her conviction is! I can only hope I can teach my children to stand strong for truth and good in the face of shifting moral values and the emphasis on "rights" rather than "responsibility" world we live in.

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1318/Preteen-pro-life-speech-goes-viral

One True Source of Peace

"Where can I turn for peace? Where is my solace when other sources cease to make me whole?
When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice, I draw myself apart, searching my soul?
Where, when my aching grows, where, when I languish, where, in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish? Who, who can understand? He, only one.
He answers privately, reaches my reaching in my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.
Gentle the peace He finds for my beseeching. Constant He is and kind, love without end."

The Savior's Yoke

I recently read a very thought-provoking book called "The Peacegiver" by James Ferrell. It was about the Atonement, but not strictly in an informative sense. It addressed the subject in such an illuminating way that I felt my view of this miraculous act was forever changed. Maybe not "changed" necessarily, but deepened so much as to make my perspective on life different. I thought about how many times I try and do things by myself believing that I am weak if I have to ask for help so readily. And I thought about how easy it is to succumb to pride in terms of it's true meaning: comparison. How easily I base my reactions off of others' actions; putting myself in the victim mode too often and thinking that righteousness is a relative term--that somehow if I'm doing "more" then I shouldn't have to be the one to humble myself or apologize first. This book really opened my eyes to see how the Savior suffered for each one of us individually and that our happiness is separate from what others do around us. And what we choose to do in life should only be based on our relationship with the Savior, never being provoked or justified by another's actions. Many times we see others acting in certain ways or saying certain things and we feel it justifies us in acting in a way we otherwise wouldn't. Or we're allowed to feel more righteous than them because they are "sinning" worse than we are. How are we to make that judgment or assumption? To quote from the book (the author is bringing out a parallel to our lives through the story of Jonah):

"You see, Ricky, relative righteousness means nothing. Whether Jonah was better or worse than Nineveh isn't the question at all.... Some laborers work longer, the Savior told us in one of his parables, and others shorter. Each person's payment at the end of the day has nothing whatsoever to do with the work of others. We are each working out our own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord. And that gift will come to us only if we know in our hearts that we deserve it no more than anyone else.... The truth is, we are all, each of us, equally damned without the mercy of the Lord. Eternal life is a gift. I have no cause to feel entitled. I have cause only to feel grateful."

I feel very humbled by this and immensely unworthy, yet grateful, for what the Savior has done for us, all of us individually. I have come to understand that the Atonement means so much more than "suffering for us". It seems like we use that phrase so casually because, well, who of us can possibly comprehend what was actually done in the garden of Gethsemane? But I know that the Atonement is real and that because of it I am free from the powers of darkness and temptation, if I choose. And why not choose Christ? What happier alternative would there be? I don't have to be in the power of Satan or succumb to weakness! Christ has done that for me already, and He faced what none of us will ever have to. So we should come unto Him every day of our lives. One final quote, Christ suffered an "indescribable anguish and overpowering torture, a supreme contest with the power of evil, an hour of anguish when Christ had to meet and overcome all the horrors that Satan could inflict. And he suffers all this.... for us.... the addict, the abuser, the chronic complainer, those whose spirits are depressed. His struggle tonight is for all mankind, but only because it was for each of us, individually and specifically.... If we harden not our hearts and stiffen not our necks against him, he will facilitate the breaking of our sinful, stony hearts and will give us what Ezekiel called his new 'heart of flesh', saving us from all our uncleannesses. This is the miracle of Gethsemane."

Never Give Up Hope

"Hope sustains us through despair. Hope teaches that there is reason to rejoice even when all seems dark around us."

I have given up hope before. I have thought that God must not care about His children, must not love them enough to prevent the trials and horrors that come to many, even the innocent. I have thought maybe the suffering that I see is an indication of God wanting us to suffer and to live in darkness and despair for a punishment. But I have learned that seeing things in this way only gives way to more darkness, confusion, and despair. And I have to ask myself, "Am I happier for giving in to such a conclusion?" No. So I will choose to have hope that God loves me and will care for me in spite of so much suffering. He knew that trials of every kind, evil and unspeakable injustices and horrors would be among us. And this because the devil would have power over the hearts of many, and God would allow us all to have our agency. Is this unloving or unfair? No, God in His infinite mercy has provided a way for an escape from this! That He has indeed sent His Son for this very reason! Why should we let our hope fail us because of our circumstances in life? We are not the better off for despairing and giving into bitterness and blame. Life is hard and will continue to be so, but why should we make it harder by turning away from the only thing that can give us comfort and peace? We may put up walls of pride and anger, we may victimize ourselves and justify our misery. But where will this take us in the end?

"And to all who suffer--to all who feel discouraged, worried, or lonely--I say with love and deep concern for you, never give in. Never surrender. Never allow despair to overcome your spirit. Embrace and rely upon the Hope of Israel, for the love of the Son of God pierces all darkness, softens all sorrow, and gladdens every heart. "